


She Blossoms in Autumn

by WoodAndMarsh



Category: Naruto
Genre: BAMF Haruno Sakura, BAMF Uchiha Mikoto, Family, Gen, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Temporary Character Death, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:49:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23691880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WoodAndMarsh/pseuds/WoodAndMarsh
Summary: Sleep is for the dead, they said. So now that she was dead, there was no reason not to sleep....Alternatively, Uchiha Mikoto was given a chance to go back and fix things. For reasons Sakura can't quite understand, the matriarch chose to take her too. Dead on her feet (in more ways than one) and a little bit lost, Sakura learns to be alive again. Meanwhile, Mikoto finally has the chance to have a daughter (and maybe a real friend for once too).
Relationships: Haruno Sakura & Uchiha Mikoto, Haruno Sakura & Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura & Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 16
Kudos: 167





	1. 1 - The End (or lack thereof)

When she had thought about who might greet her in the afterlife, because she firmly believed that there _was_ an afterlife, Uchiha Sakura (formerly _Haruno_ Sakura) thought it would be her parents. Perhaps they would say they were proud of her. Perhaps they would tell her about how their prolonged trip outside of Konoha had gone horribly wrong and that _that_ was why they never came home. Not a happy thought, no, but it would have provided closure to a question that had remained unanswered for so long. A relief, maybe.

If not her parents, she had thought, then a shinobi, maybe someone who had died in the war or who had been in her care. They could give advice on where to go, or what to do from there. Maybe express gratitude of some sort? Though that was definitely not a humble thought.

Or if not a shinobi from her past, maybe a civilian? The kind old man from the grocery store? The lady who snuck her treats as a child?

She’d even considered being greeted by nobody at all.

Instead, when Sakura died, she was greeted by a soul that had long since left the world she came from. Her mother-in-law.

_(in a way it was her parents after all)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I guess this is my introduction to AO3. Hello, hi, how are you? Nice to meet you! Please let me know if I'm doing something wrong with my tags or any of the like. I'm very new, but I try my best to take criticisms well. I've done fanfiction before (a very long time ago) but got scared off by some awful things people have said in the past (people can be mean when they have the internet to hide behind).
> 
> BUT. I am here now, and I am trying to get back into the swing of things.
> 
> I've been reading a lot of Naruto time travel fanfiction in the past months (and especially recently, with these crazy, awful, scary times) and came up with an idea for this as I was thinking about all the different reasons people have come up with for why someone travels through time in this universe, or how, or with whom. I don't think I remember reading a fanfiction with these two travelling through time. Have any of you? If you do, please let me know - I'd be curious to read it. Maybe after I write some more of this first though. In any case I guess this almost counts as a "rare pair"?
> 
> This chapter is very short, as you've noticed. I hope you enjoyed it regardless. The rest that I've written so far varies in length but is typically longer. I'm a bit of a manic writer unfortunately, so if I were to restrict myself to a short or long format I would get uninspired very quickly and I just don't want that right now, so I'm letting my poor muse (after years of hiding under the bed) do as she so pleases. I missed her dearly.
> 
> Fun Fact: Originally I was going to call this She Blooms in the Fall instead of in Autumn. However, somehow I got into my mind that I could easily replace "Fall" with words that begin with "C" and "H". I could not get the thought out of my head and had to change course. Entertaining as it may be, having "She-B****" as an acronym isn't quite what I had in mind for this story. Still makes me laugh though!
> 
> Hope to see you all again soon!


	2. 2 - Sharpness (but instead you could be soft)

Years ago - _many_ years ago - Sakura may have had the energy to react in a more animated fashion. Memories came and went of yelling in synchrony with an equally enthused Naruto at an unmoved Kakashi-sensei.

Those days were long past her.

In life, since around the birth of her Sarada-chan, Sakura found herself with a severe lack of energy. Always tired, always run down, always minutes away from falling asleep. Multiple times she had to suppress a sudden cold or illness with a wave of chakra. The war had taken much out of her, and raising a child, alone, took what was left. If anyone had noticed, they didn’t say anything until it was too late.

In death, she was still similarly drained. The how or why of it escaped her, but perhaps exhaustion was just a part of who she was now. She didn’t have the energy to even lift her jaw that had dropped open or close her eyes that had widened.

Embarrassing.

Uchiha Mikoto herself stood smiling in all her beautiful glory, an amused glint in her dark eyes, a polite distance in front of her. And for the thousandth time in her lifetime (assuming this _counted_ as part of her lifetime), Sakura felt woefully inadequate.

“Daughter,” she greeted. It was a warmer tone than Sakura would have expected (had she expected any at all). “It is wonderful to meet you, though the circumstances are very unfortunate.” Her head tilted slightly forward in a small bow. “Please let me be the first to say I am sorry for all that you have gone through to reach this place.”

“Um,” Sakura mumbled unhelpfully. It took several long blinks for her to process exactly what had been said and what the words meant. Once she had, a few _awful awful awful make it stop_ \- a few memories flashed in her mind that took her breath away. Or, would have. She didn’t have any breath here, so there was nothing to take. Sakura bit her lip, gathering herself. “Ah, yes. _Unfortunate_ , Uchiha-sama..”

“ _Mikoto_ alone is fine, daughter. May I ask to call you Sakura-san?”

Sakura nodded slowly, noting the way Mikoto phrased the question. Careful, gentle, fragile - words could do a world of damage, she knew. She just never got the hang of wielding them. To further prove her point, what came out of Sakura’s mouth was “uh, yes, um U-no- _Mi_ -... Mikoto-sama.”

She grimaced. _Embarrassing._

Mikoto’s laugh was gentle and airy. Pleasant. (Sakura hoped, once that she could sound like that. One day she realized how forced it came off for her and stopped trying. Mostly.)

“You likely have many questions about why I am here.” That was a given, and also an understatement. “I can answer them in a moment, of course. However, I first wanted to thank you.”

Sakura’s eyes widened again. “What-?”

“Thank you for being there for my son throughout his lifetime and yours, for waiting for him and showing him that he was worth waiting for, for giving me a grand-daughter and raising her so well. As time went on past my death, and I watched my two boys, I worried so much for their futures… You were able to ensure the happiness of my youngest, to grace him with parenthood, to ensure that my clan did not end with my family…

“I am immeasurably grateful for this. For you. Thank you.”

“Oh,” Sakura said softly. “I don’t… know what to say to that. I’m sorry.”

“There’s no need to say anything, my daughter.”

Instead of responding, then, Sakura looked around her, trying to adapt her mind to the new landscape that, for all she knew, would be her new home. Grassy hills and cloudy skies stretched around her as far as the eye could see. There may have been an end farther out, or they may not have been. It didn’t particularly matter.

Sakura was reminded abruptly of Shikamaru when she felt the impulse to lie down and watch the clouds. Strange. If her perfect afterlife was filled with rest and cloud-watching, maybe she should have spent more time with the man in life. Maybe they had more in common than she thought.

The grass around her swayed in a breeze that she didn’t feel.

“How long have you been watching?” she asked absently, gazing off into the distance.

“I’ve been watching my sons since Itachi-kun was made to act against us. And Danzo, since I was aware that the Hokage himself was unlikely to have made that sort of call. Would he have agreed to it, there’s certainly a chance, but he wouldn’t propose it. He was far too fond of being called kind to do that. Whether he _was_ kind is a question I would like to be able to answer but alas.”

Mikoto caught Sakura’s eyes before starting again.

“I have been watching _you_ off and on since before the declaration of war was made. I can’t remember exactly when, and even if I could I doubt you’d recognize the moment.” This was a lie, and Sakura could tell it was a lie. There was no difference in tone from before, but she just…. Knew. Maybe it was something about this place, maybe it was something about this woman, but somehow Sakura could tell.

She didn’t point it out though.

“I’ve been considering it for a while but I came to a conclusion after _your_ daughter graduated the academy… Sakura-san, I have been waiting here for a while, trying to determine an answer to a question someone else asked me, someone more powerful than anyone in that world has been for a long time. Yes, the Otsuzuki included.

“But before I could answer their question, I had a request. I did not want to go through with the consequences alone. And so, I now have a request for _you_. Will you hear me out, Sakura-san?”

There was no reason not to, so Sakura nodded her head.

_(and really, even if there was reason not to, she didn’t have the energy to fight for it)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hi!
> 
> I was so surprised by the response to this, especially with so few words so far. Thank you so much, everyone! This new chapter was a bit longer than the last one and I'm hoping that everyone liked it :)
> 
> Here we have our introduction to Mikoto-sama, who is beauty and grace and everything Sakura once wished she could be. And we also have an introduction to poor, tired Sakura. Has anyone else noticed how tired she looks in Boruto all the time (in the manga at least)? Poor thing didn't get a break as basically a single parent. I'm going to be really exploring that, though. (And of course, there's more than one reason to her being this way, at least for this story.) Don't worry - she'll get better as time goes on.
> 
> Hope to see you again soon!


	3. 3 - Understanding (if lacking, ask questions)

The request was both alarmingly simple and reasonably complex.

Events that had happened in the recent past, that had been in the making since before Konoha had been established, had damaged the lining of the afterlife. How that happened Sakura still didn’t understand (and Mikoto herself didn’t understand either, so at least she wasn’t alone in that). She at least figured that people repeatedly dying and then being pulled back into life couldn’t have helped.

Among other things.

Uchiha Mikoto had been asked to go back into the past and try to fix the part of the past that she was most intimately a part of. The Uchiha Massacre.

“I assume that others might also be sent to different parts of the world, of the past,” Mikoto told Sakura calmly. “I’m unaware how their changes will impact the work that lies ahead of me, but it’s good to know in advance - to expect some things might be different for no reason or fault of your own.”

She had been dawdling for some time in the afterlife (though of course that was _not_ the word Mikoto had _used_ ), watching the progress of events as those left behind lived. Mikoto passingly described the holes in her forever world (those she watched the ephemeral world through) growing and growing until she herself had no place to exist, and began to wander throughout the worlds constructed by others. (Many of _those_ lay in waste now as well.)

And _wow_ , did that thought bring a shiver to Sakura’s spine. Terrifying.

“Yours is quite intact, for some reason.” Mikoto hummed in thought. “It’s been here a while though, I’ll have you know. It’s been waiting for you, developing as you grew older until it hit this point. It has been a while since it reached this state.”

Sakura wondered why that might be, if the afterlife waited for you since birth or… She pushed down the impulse to touch her forehead, to feel the slight indent of her seal. It likely didn’t travel here with her.

(The grass swayed all around her and she still didn’t feel it. Clouds changed shape gently above their heads. It was so _tempting_ to lie down and watch, but Sakura held her ground.)

“At one point there was a cabin over there.” Mikoto pointed at the tallest hill. From the distance, she could see that it held a picnic blanket now (checkered, red) but nothing else. Not even a basket. “I was startled to see it fade away.”

Odd. Sakura sure would have liked a cabin. Though right now all she really wanted was a nap and some time to process what was happening around her - oh. _Oh_ . That was why there was no cabin. _Strange how that worked_.

Apparently, Mikoto had been in this space for awhile, after realizing it was mostly untouched from the corruption across the worlds. She had some theories as to why it was untouched but none were altogether important, in the grand scheme of things. It wouldn’t exist much longer after all. Because Mikoto was going to the past to fix things.

As for her request…

“Will you come with me?”

Sakura didn’t understand.

“To the past,” Mikoto clarified. “You would be reborn as a younger self, with all the memories and none of the abilities of yourself when you died. Again, the world around you may differ here and there, or greatly, due to the actions of any others that may have gone back further than us. To be honest I’m not sure how much will have changed.”

Sakura blinked and then pushed her eyebrows together, uncomprehending.

“I don’t want to go alone, to be alone in an unknown world, making changes that I can’t talk through with anyone. Reminiscing on memories too unbelievable to share with anyone who hadn’t seen them. To have someone with me would ease this burden.

“Furthermore,” she continued, “If I were to fail, there is no backup. That I’m aware of.”

 _Unless you accept,_ was unspoken.

Sakura stared at her still. She provided no reaction for which Mikoto could determine an answer or attempt to manipulate her (if she were so inclined). Instead, Mikoto smiled.

“We have some time for you to think about it. Not much, but some. Keep in mind though, that by the time either your husband or your daughter come to join us there may be no piece of peacefulness left for them. We can’t wait forever.”

_Terrifying._

“Why me?” Sakura asked suddenly. “Why not - your husband, or you sons, or - ?”

“Ah, forgive me, Sakura-san,” Mikoto interrupted, speaking quickly. “If my husband went alive with the knowledge and memory of what Konoha did to our son, made our son do, made them both live through and made our entire clan die through… to have him live in Konoha under the leadership that would do that, no. I cannot. I will not. For many reasons.”

There was silence for a moment as the words soaked into the ground at their feet.

“As for my sons,” Mikoto continued, slowly and carefully now, “I would prefer for them not to be scarred by their experiences if at all possible. This world has been kind to neither of them. I would like them to see a world that is kind instead.” She looked Sakura in the eye. “Forgive me.”

 _Forgive me_ , because the world was not kind to Sakura either. Because she was calling her a daughter, family, and yet she was forcing her to live with the memories she would hide from her sons. _Ah_ , Sakura thought. _That makes more sense._ Daughter she may be, but she could never compare to the sons.

Her shoulders relaxed minutely with this realization. _She could never compare_. That was the only thing in this landscape that was familiar, known. Still -

“Why not someone else in the village or in the clan? Surely someone else would object to what happened, would be able to -”

“Sakura-san. Please, stop.” She stopped. “You are my _daughter_ . You are _family_ . There are and were precious few people that this word applies to. There are plenty of _clansmen_ yes but _family_ is not the same. You are my daughter; I would not say this lightly. _My daughter_. I trust you.”

_Trust?_

Mikoto glanced to the side and cleared her throat. When she spoke again, her voice was a whisper. “I am also selfish, you must realize. Doubtlessly there is a small Sakura-chan in that world I will go to, but that is not my daughter. My daughter saved my son’s soul and happiness. My daughter gave me a grandchild. My daughter grew so much before I ever noticed her and I’ve watched her all these years, her and my son and their child. I - that girl will not be my daughter. Not _mine_. She belongs to somebody else.

“I’ve always wanted a daughter.”

Those words were probably significant, but Sakura was stuck on a statement that came before. _My daughter saved my son’s soul and happiness._ Saving Sasuke’s soul and happiness was, frankly, debatable, if not outright _wrong_ . If anyone had even been capable, _Naruto_ would be the name on the tip of her tongue. But..

Sakura stared at the woman in front of her, too tired to form an appropriate expression. Too tired, so tired, tired every day. And maybe this woman was tired too. If so… they might have more in common than she might have ever guessed - aside from the men they had married. Maybe, with time, Sakura could grow to understand this woman.

But time wasn’t exactly something they had plenty of here, was it? Her peaceful landscape may be one of few left in this afterlife, and there likely wouldn’t be more coming. Unless, of course, they fixed the past.

Sakura had no doubt that Mikoto could work miracles in the past. She had no doubts that the being - or beings, or whatever it may have been - that had chosen Mikoto had known well what they were doing when they chose her. She had more doubt of her own involvement, however. What could she possibly contribute to this, especially if she would go back into the body of a child? And yet…

If she stayed here, would she be stuck in a reality where not even the afterlife was sacred? Would it continue to exist? Would she spend her days in peace staring at the clouds only to then watch holes rip through it? Was that a reality worth turning down the opportunity for?

And if she said yes, what of her friends and family, stuck here?

But… if she left, there was the chance that the old world would no longer exist anyway, and the people she knew wouldn’t be tort- _no no bad thoughts_ \- wouldn’t be _trapped_ in this world forever. And she could see them again in the new world younger yes but maybe _happy_ ? 

She wasn’t particularly convinced they were all that happy where she came from. To be honest. At least, not many people _her_ age.

And… if she went with Mikoto, then they’d have peace in their afterlives. Here.. it was too late for that. The thought of her loved ones not being able to rest in peace after their lives were complete… that thought finalized answer. (A part of her wished it was the only thing she considered, or the fist thing to cross her mind. Even after all these years she was still embarrassingly selfish.)

“I can’t promise I’d be the best daughter. My parents might have left me, I don’t know, I wasn’t good enough. And we’re practically the same age. My daughter is older than your son was when - well. I’m hardly a child to raise.”

“You’re perfect,” Mikoto said, looking into her eyes. Vulnerable. “Please.”

“Okay.”

_(and with this, Uchiha Sakura said goodbye to this world, and Haruno Sakura said hello to one that took its place)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hi! This chapter I wrote late at night a while back and so it needed some serious editing before I was comfortable putting it up here. I'm still not completely happy about it but I'd rather have it up and be able to move on from this part of the story (for now, we'll revisit sometime later).
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed it! See you again soon :)


End file.
